Roadbed construction



C. J. ROELKER.

ROADBED CONSTRUCTION. APPLICATION FILED mums. 1920.

1,387, 184. Patented Aug. 9, 1921.

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Jizwrzian a [Zaeliten C- ROELKER.

BOADBED CONSTRUCTION. APPLICATION man mmzs, 1920.

1,387,184. Patented Aug. 9,1921.

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CARL J. ROELKER, or RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, Assrenon or ONE-FOURTH To w. I.

- LEE, or RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.

Applicatio n filed. March 29, 1920. Serial No. 369,517. ,I

T all whom it may concern:

"Be, it known that I, CARL J. ROELKER; a citizen of the United-States,residing in the cityof Richmond, county of IIenrico, and

. State of Virginia, have invented new and useful Improvements inRoadbed Construction, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to cement or concrete road-bed construction forrailways. The general object of the invention is to provide, a;construction of this character which can be'readily produced and whichis ..provided with simple means for securing the rails; also to providesimple means for increasing the supporting surface of the constructionwhich rests upon the earth or ballast. A further object of the invention,is -toprovide a seat-plate of simple construction for supporting therail and having special features of construction for preventing theplate from shifting on the upper face of the cement and for preventingthe rail from shifting on the seat-plate. One of my objects isto providea general construetion of this character havinga maximum strength andsupporting surface with a minimum weight ofcement.

Further obiects of the invention will pear hereinafter.

Thev invention consists in the novel features and in the generalcombination of parts to be particularly described hereinafter. all ofwhich contribute to produce a simple and -eflicient-road-bedconstruction. A preferred embodiment of my invention will beparticularly described in the following specification. while the broadsco'oe of my invention will be pointed out in the appended. claims.

In the drawing V Figure 1 is a plan showing a portion of a road-bedembodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan-upon an enlarged scale and furtherillustrating detailsof the in vention:

Fig. 3 is a cross-section taken on the line 3 30fFig.2;.

Fig.4 is a cross-section taken on the line 44 of 2; 1

Fig. .5. is a cross-section taken through one-of the rails and through asupporting stringer and particularly illustrating details of themounting forfthe bolts which secure the rails;

I Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug.

. cement and for app-i ROAJJBED CONSTR'UCTION.

Fig. .6 is a plan upon an enlarged scale of one of the seat-plates whichmay be employed for supporting the rails on theface of the cement; and 1Fig.7 is an edge elevation-10f the plate shown in F ig. 6 and indicatingthe means carried by the plate for anchoring it to the preventinglateral shifting of the rail.

In carrying out my invention I provide a palr of oppositely disposed"stringers I, 1

which extend longitudinally with the road- 7 ends of the stringers maybe placed as near together as desired soas'to reducethe unsupportedportlon ofthe rails between the adjacent units In order toadapt thisconstruction to lo- I cal road-bed conditions and to insure sufficlentsupporting surface for the construction resting upon the earth orballast, I prefer to provide the ends of the tie-members with 1 lateraler-itensions 1 in line withthe stringers which arealsovirtuallylateralextensions of the tie-members; I also may provide footing-webs 4which connect the sides of the tie members with th inner sides of thestringers. These webs also operate to support the weight of a portion ofthe ballast; thistends to prevent shifting of the structure. They andare formed in a monolithic structure with the stringers and tie members.In the present instance these webs are formed in the corners at thejunction points of the,

95 I are preferably formed of'cement or concrete stringersandtie-members. These webs may I have any width desiredto adapt them tothe character ofthe earth or ballast; that is to say, they may be madewider or narrower to suit the local road-bedconditions.

The footing-webs are; preferably placed so that their" lower faces areflush with the bottom faces of the stringers and tie members,*('see Fig;3). In order to give these footings 1 great strength with a minimumamount of Web with a plurality of reinforcing bars and these bars may bearranged parallel with the outer edge (5 of the webs; the bodies ofthese rods are therefore disposed within the webs and the ends of therods extend into the interior of the stringers and tie-members (see Fig.2).

in order to provide simple means for securing the rails to the cementconstruction and also to provide an enlarged area for distributing theweight of the rail and rolling stock on the cement, I prefer to providea plurality of bolt-webs 7. These webs may be disposed in any suitablemanner, provided they connect the sides of the lateral extensions, thatis, the stringers and parts 1. with the sides of the tiemembers. Thesewebs are not necessarily formed of cement, but may be, if desired, inthe form of small plates or gussets embedded in the cement.

. I prefer however, to form these webs of cement simply monolithicallywith the rest of the construction. The upper faces of these webs arepreferably flush with the upper faces of the cement. These webs shouldbe of sufiicient depth to have ample strength to enable them to operateas mountings for bolts. In case these bolt-webs are so deep as tointerfere with the placing of the belts in position, I may mount theinside bolt such as the, bolt 8, (see Fig. 5), in such a way that thebolt passes up through the footing-web and through an alining opening inthe boltweb 7 just above.

In the case of the outside webs however, l provide shorter bolts 9 whichsimply pass up through the bolt-webs.

In order to secure the rails 2, l. prefer to provide a plurality of railseat-plates 10 (see Fig. 6) these seat-pl ates are simply flat steelplates of substantially 2 form. that is to say, the plates are longenough to extend over the lateral extensions at the ends of eachtic-member, and have extensions 11 which project out over the boltwebs.These extensions are located on opposite sides of.

the plate but out of line with each other. These plates have boltopenings 12 which aline with the bolts 8 and 9 so that after the boltsare placed in position, nuts 13 may be applied to the ends of the boltsto secure rail clips 1%, (see Fig. 5), which engage the flange 15 of therail on opposite sides. The plates 10 are preferably countersunk intotheface of the cement so that between the seat-plates, the bottom of theflange rests on the face of the cement.

The seat-plates 10 are preferably contion; this means however, shouldextend down into the cement so as to give the effect of an anchor. Iprefer to accomplish. thlsbedded in the concrete, (see Figs. 6 and 7).-

In order to prevent any tendency of the rails 2 to shift laterally onthe seat-plates, I provide the seatrplates with oppositely disposedupwardly projecting lugs 17 (see Fig. i

'1'); these lugs engage the edges of the rail flange substantially asindicated. Although l have shown a bolt opening 18 in each of theboltwebs, in Fig. 2, it will be noted that each seat plate only utilizestwo of these openings. However, if desired, evidently the plate 10 maybe made'of bl shape so as to enable four bolts to be used in each plateinstead of two, and it is also obvious, by bending the lug 17 in anopposite direction from that indicated in Fig. 7, and by bending the lug16 likewise in an opposite direction, the plate maybe given an oppositecharacter, that is to say, the plate 10 can be of right hand'form orleft'hand form. This gives the construction a certain amount offlexibility which may be desirable under certain circumstances forexample, where the the road-bed is laid on a bridge.

ln order to reinforce the bolt-webs 7,1.-

may provide reinforcing means in the form of a bent rod 19 extendingsubstantially around the pomt of intersection of a stringer and atie-member so as to lie in the outer porl .t ons of the webs, toreinforce all four of the webs. H in the angles between the tie-memberand its lateral extensions and are disposed inwardly with respect to thereinforcing means By placing the bodies of these rods The bolts aretherefore located the under portion of the stringers they will absorb agreat deal of the tension which exists in the stringers when a car wheelis directly over a stringer at an intermediate point between twotie-members. While of course, the stiffness of the rail tends todistribute the load over the entire bearing surface of the upper face ofthe cement,

there is a tendency for the concentrated load to bend the stringerdownwardly at its middle point, the effect of which wouldloe to producea tensile force in the under side of the stringer. I in order tostrengthen the tie-members, I

provide a plurality of reinforcing rods 22] (see Fig. 3). The bodies ofthese rods are disposed. near the upper portion ofthe tiestrength ofthetie-members and enable'the tiemembers to resist the high tensile forceswhich are developed in the upper portion of the tie-members when a wheelis resting on each end of a tie-member. When this occurs theconcentration of the load at the ends ofthe tie-member'has a tendency todepress the ends of the tie members and causev a'relative elevation ofthe middle portion of the tie-members, that isto say, the upper portionsof the tie-members are in tension and the lower portions in compression.

What I claim and desire to'secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A cement road-bed construction consisting of a pair of oppositelydisposed stringers extending longitudinally with the road-bed under therail positions, transversely disposed tie-members connecting thestringers, and footing-webs of less depth than the tiemembers connectingthe innersides of the stringers with the tie-members and operating tosupport the weight of a portion of the ballast, and to increase thesupporting surface resting on the earth or ballast.

2. A cement road-bed construction consisting of a pair of longitudinallydisposed stringers located under the rail positions, transverselydisposed tie-members connecting the stringers, footing-webs connectingthe tie-members with the inner sides of the stringers to increase thesupporting surface resting on the earth or ballast, rail seatplatescountersunk into the upper face of the cement, and bolts passing throughsaid webs and through said seat-plates, and extending above the upperface of the cement for securing the rails.

3. A cement road-bed construction consisting of a pair of oppositelydisposed stringers located under the rail positions, transverselydisposed tie-members connecting the stringers, footing-webs connectingthe inner sides of the stringers with the tiemembers to increase-thesupporting surface resting on the earth or ballast, bolt-webs connectingthe sides of the stringers with the sides of the tie-members, railseat-plates countersunk into the upper face of the eement, and boltscarried by the bolt-webs and extending up through the seat-plates forsecuring the rails. 7

4. A cement road-bed construction consisting of oppositely disposedstringers extending longitudinally with the road-bed, and located underthe rail positions, transversely disposed tie-members connecting thestringers and having their ends projecting beyond the stringers,bolt-webs connecting the outer sides and inner sides of the stringerswith the tie-members,rail seat-plates countersunk into'the upper face ofthe cement and'extending over said webs, and bolts carried by thebolt-webs extending up through the seatplates for securing. therails.

5. A cement road-bed construction consist ing of I stringers extendinglongitudinally with the road-bed, located under the rail positions,tie-members extending transversely to the stringers and with their endsprojecting beyond the outer sides of the stringers, bolt-webs on theouter s des of the stringers and connecting the strlngers with thesidesof the projecting ends of the tie-members, bolt+webs formed ontheinner sides of the stringers and connecting the same with the sides ofthe tie-members, and

bolts carried by said bolt-webs and projecting above the upper faceof'the cement, for I securing the rails. 6; A cement road-bedconstruction cons st- .ing'of a pair of oppositely disposed stringersextending longitudinally" with, the road-bed, reinforcing i bars.extending longitudinally with the stringers-and disposed in the lowerportions" of the stringers, transversely disposed tie-members connectingthe stringers,

reinforcing bars within the tie-members and dlsposed in the upperportions thereof, bolts,

and means for holding the same in the cement on opposite sides of therail positions,

for securingthe rails, footing-webs of less depth than the tie membersconnecting the stringers and tie-members operating to support the weightof a portion of the ballast,

and also to increase the supporting surface resting on the earth orballast, and reinforcing bars within the websand' extending into theinterior ofthe stringers and tie-members.

7 .o A cement road-bed construction consisting of a pair of oppositelydisposed stringers extending longitudinally with the road-bed, andlocated under the rail positions, tr'ansversely disposed tie-membersconnecting the stringers and having their ends projecting beyond thestringers, bolt-webs formed of cement on the outer sides of thestringers and on the inner sides of the stringers, and connecting thestringers with the tie-members, reinforcing rods withinsaid webs andextending into the interior ofthe stringers and tie-members, and boltscarried by said webs for securing the rails.

8. A cement road-bed construction consists ing of oppositely disposedmembers extending longitudinally with the road-bed and located under therail positions, transversely disposed tie-members connecting the saidmembers, bolt-webs connectingthesides of the said members with thetie-members, rail seat-plates countersunk into the upper face of thecement and having downwardly extending means embedded in the cement, andbolts mounted in said bolt-webs and passing through said plates forsecuring the rails,

9. A cement road-bed construction consisting of oppositely disposedtie-membersextending across the road-bed and having lateral extensionslocated under the rail positions, bolt-webs connecting the sides of thelateral extensions with the tie1nembers, rail seat-plates countersunkinto the upper face of the cement, said seat plates having downwardlyextending lugs projecting into the cement and having upwardly projectinglugs for engaging the edges of the rail flange; and bolts mounted insaid bolt-webs and passing through said plates for securing the rails.

10. In a cement road-bed construction, a transversely disposedtie-member having lateralextensions adjacent the ends thereof,

webs disposed in the angles between the tiemember and the lateralGXtGHSlOllS, ad acent the upper face of the tie-members, and boltspassing loosely up through said webs for securing the rails, said websbeing of less depth than the tie-member and constructed to the ballastat the side of the tie-member.

11. In .a cement road-bed construction, a transverse tie-member havinglateral extene'rmit removal of the bolt by removing sions adjacent theends thereof and integral webs formed in the angles between thetiemember and lateral extensions, the upper faces of said webs beingsubstantially flush with the upper face of the tie-member, a seat-plateat each end supported by the tiemember and lateral extensions, and boltsmounted in the webs and passing through the seat-plates for securing therails.

12. In a cement road-bed construction, a transverse tie-member havinglateral extensions adjacent the ends thereof, integral webs formed inthe angles between the tiemember and the extensions, with their upperfaces flush with the upper faces of'the tieineinber and extensions,reinforcing means carried in the tie-member and lateral extensions andextending through the outer portions of the webs, each web having a boltlocated in the angle and disposed inwardly with respect to thereinforcing means for securing the rails.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

CARL J. ROELKER

